Saturday, 20 June 2015

The
Gooderham Building, St Lawrence Market and St James Church are some historic
landmarks for the city. People are attracted to these edifices. And
apart from my own softness for viewing great architecture, we are doubly drawn
to the people that go to these structures.

We
were chanting in those areas near Front St and I was astounded how many people
offer us pranams (folded hands) and how many folks greet us with a smile
and a "namaste" or "Hare Krishna." This tells me that
people are adjusting, looking east and coming to the point of acceptance.

If
we were to trace back history, surely we would capture a link between the east
and west and how, for millennia, the west has gained profound influence from
the east. Fortunately there exists no Great Wall of China and so there is
exchange. India has always kept the door open. It always was
inviting to the world, giving of itself. And now we are out here
delivering to the hands of the public our brochures promoting spiritual India
through the Festival of India. I believe we leave people with the
impression that we are a cultural movement and are not a religion.

From
our perspective the whole district is very dry until sacred sound comes through
even as people are having drinks. At one point in our procession Johnny
Cash's words came to my thoughts. "Walk The Line":

It
was just after lunch that a small kirtan party led by your humble servant made
our way to the waterfront. By water I'm referring to Lake Ontario and
like other major cities in North America, Toronto is trying to follow on a
spruced up water-edged world. Along Queen's Quay where we did roam and
chant, we also picked up on the fact that the city is working at a frenzy to
get ready for the PAN-AM games. Finishing touches are being done to road
and pathways.

You
see a combination of water, sand, concrete, green space with umbrellas and what
someone would describe as Muskoka chairs under those shades. It truly is
a hot spot, well, supposed to be a 'cool' spot, as in temperature and as in a
tourist draw.

Our
timing was a little off though. After lunch everyone's back in the
office. Night-time would be more desirable for foot-traffic but we were
there to explore and to survey the area. Prospects look good.

Anyway
all was said and done. People were perked up to see and hear us.
Flyers were distributed to inform all about July's Festival of Chariots/India
in the midst of the Pan Am Games. I got my exercise in, but not to a full
satisfactory level. I went to phase 2, down the ravine, at dusk.

Solitude is what I needed, after all - some down-time.
Recent rains I was unaware of, created a slide effect. Nothing like the
scene from 'Woodstock.' Just a lone monk moving down a trail adds to a
long list of trekking.

Hitesh
frequents our temple ashram and this evening just before a small group of us
headed for Bloor West for a chanting party, he handed me a piece of the Guru
Granth Sahib. He had visited a Gurudwar over the weekend, was happy to
note a translation on the wall and wanted to share it with me.

From
Ang: 693 - 694

First
of all, the lotuses bloomed in the woods; from them, all the swan-souls came
into being. Know that, through Krishna, the Lord, Har, Har, the dance of
creation dances.

1)First of all, there was only the Primal
Being. From that Primal Being, Maya was produced. All that is, is
His. In this Garden of the Lord, we all dance, like water in the pots of
the Persian wheel.

2)Pause/Women and men both dance.
There is no other then the Lord. Don't dispute this, and don't doubt
this. The Lord says, "This creation and I are one and the
same."

3)Like the pots on the Persian wheel,
sometimes the world is high, and sometimes it is low. Wandering and
roaming around I have come at last to Your Door. "Who are
you?" "I am Naam Daya, Sir." Oh Lord, please save me
from Maya, the cause of death.

The
words above are inspiring and like others found in the Sikh traditional text,
it confirms the link between the Vedas of India and the teachings of the Sikh's
founder, Guru Nanak.

Nothing
to report about walking. Heat and humidity is very uninviting for the
outdoors. Yes, even at night I thought, "Just for exercise-sake and
then having a good sleep why not go to Key Biscayne Beach and swim until we
tire out?" The brahmacari monks whom I suggested this to for
a venture after our Sunday program, were very game to the idea.

But
then Garga Muni, the local astrologer, mentioned that sharks appear in shallow
water at dusk. We changed our minds on the concept. Then lo and
behold we hear in the news that a 12 year old girl lost her arm, a result of a
shark attack in a North Carolina beach. Within the hour, a teenage boy
was mauled by a shark in the same area. May these young people be
protected from further harm.

Although
a different beach, it is still the same coastline. The two brahmacaris
and I could have been victims. Fortunately for us, at that time, we
were in the safe domain of a temple immersed in chatting and then
chanting. Yes, the kirtan was bursting with energy and participants were
soaked in salt water (their own), being engrossed in passionate dance.

Tamohara and I shared our devotional message to the
community after the chant. Our thrust was one of gratitude to the
stalwart followers. We announced our new steward to the temple. Our
temple president now is a Venezuelan-born, 66 years old, sannyasi
monk. He had gone through the process of marriage, raised three daughters
and now as traditional procedure would have it, has taken steps to the
renounced life. We wish him well with his new assignment.

We
had our share of stepping on sea urchins. I probably did more walking
through water today than moving on the ground surface. Sea urchins were
everywhere and once again, crocs came in most handy. For those of us who
ventured barefoot the prickly entities became a bit of a nuisance.

At
Key-Biscayne, where the Atlantic waters are indeed fine in temperature, our
group of Krishna devotees from Miami (monks and lay members), enjoyed the
cooling effect of a swim. We were boating and then anchored near a
sandbar by Craig who runs it like a friendly business. His captain and
two young staff members really got a charge out of our kirtan on the way
to the destination and on its return. They not only enjoyed but sang and
attempted a jig.

Just
so that readers of the blog know that, as a monk, I'm not totally in maya,
or illusion, and steering away from devotional functions, the swim was a way of
approaching devotee care. Seeing to bonding and attention to some healthy
but clean physical activities is essential for spiritual upkeep.
Secondly, the mere joy of it all, set everyone ready and prepared for our
evening kirtan in the public at Miami Beach's streets.

That event and experience became memorable. The last
time I came here was at Halloween night when a group of us Krishna monks came
to do what we are known for - kirtan. I think it was the time of
day, when dark, that it just became too "risqué” for our innocent
eyes. I made a commitment then, "Never again!" Yes,
indeed for favourable devotional service you must always pick and choose.

At meetings held in a downtown Miami office, we did
discuss that which is relevant to any institution, organization, business, or
even a relationship.Authors James
Collins, and Jerry Porras, wrote about the coined expression, “The tyranny of
OR, and the genius of AND”.For
opportunity, for inclusiveness, for success, one should embrace the latter
concept.

This type of thinking of considering many possibilities
and keeping various doors open was something utilized by our guru, Srila Prabhupada.This same concept of the novel writer, F.
Scott Fitzgerald, can also be considered when he said, “The test of a first
rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same
time, and still retain the ability to function.”

When I talked to Tamohara, my good friend who was in the
room during the time of this discussion, it brought to mind the principal of
Sri Chaitanya who highlighted unity in diversity, which in Sanskrit terms,
reads as follows:

Achintya bheda bheda
tattva

As a westerner, I was brought up firmly believing in
black and white vision, or the all or nothing viewpoint.It was a breath of fresh air to run into a
culture with roots from the east, Krishna Consciousness, that has embedded into
it the concept of holding varying ideas in place and not running into
confusion.

There’s also the sun and sunshine analogy.Two different components exist, and yet the
energy is basically the same.We can
also draw the example of the constitution of water, and how it applies to the
ocean and a mere drop of water.They are
one, but different.

By the way, regarding the sun, when I strolled a stretch
of the edge of Coconut Grove, I really did feel like I was becoming one with
the sun.I was roasting.

The story of Dvidvida gorilla is a charmer for young and old
and everyone else in between.After that
regular trek that I take from Ananta’s house to the Alachua temple, I lead my
last kirtan and class in the area
before departing for Orlando.When time
came for class, the episode of the infamous gorilla came, as in sequence to our
morning Bhagavatam discussion.

Dvidvida is both a nuisance and troublemaker.As light as the story sometimes sounds, it
can also remind us of the more serious nature of the inner demon that is said
to distract us from the path of devotional service.He is horrendous in his habits.He pollutes sacrificial structures with his
urine and feces.He carries off with his
powerful arms, men and women, concealing them in hidden away caves, and also
makes gross approaches towards simple village women.The hairy ape is obnoxious.Finally, he challenges the brother of
Krishna, Balaram, when he meets his match and is swiftly done away with.

We may ask for strength and call on Balaram with the hope
to subdue the monster within.When we chant,
“Rama”, it refers to Balaram in anticipation that agitation within will be
replaced by the desire to serve.

Part two of today had us end up at Abhimanyu Arjuna’s
home for a sangha.Here, families came with children and
certainly, they remained focused on a less culprit story.They became enchanted (and so did their
accompanying parents) by the tale of Krishna and Sudhama.As boyhood schoolmates, they shared some good
times together.With the passage of
time, and years of separation, they reunited in a cordial and endearing
recollection of childhood pastimes.It
is not a bad idea for all of us to recall our days of innocence, especially
after we dwell on some of our own selfish follies.It can be very humbling and therapeutic.

Yesterday
we enjoyed the fresh water of one of the many springs in Florida.
Today, we had a good look and a good bite at blueberries.

At
the outskirt of a town, Worthington Springs, I found myself at an
organic farm for blue-berries, a pick-your-own farming enterprise. They
were not like the low-lying wild blue-berries I’m accustomed to in the
Canadian shield, but like small trees and bearing a slight tart taste.

A
torrential rainstorm terminated our picking, but I felt, while it
lasted, that a community spirit was well in shape. Everyone in the
orchard was a devotee of Krishna by some circumstance. yes, this is a
popular place for devotees who are known to pick, freeze and pull
batches out of the freezer for periodical pie-making or the cooking of
semolina halava garnished with the beauts. For one, the experience
brought me back to the days of adolescence when picking feverishly at
cherries in the month of June in Canada.

Morning
also involved a trip to Gainesville, the Krishna House where I
conducted a class in the Bhagavatam. Evening was an intriguing
challenge. I was asked to conduct a session with kids. What age was
coming? I wasn’t sure what age group? Somehow someone had trust in me.
So, I walked into the temple in Alachua and there were no less than
thirty kids sat, waiting for my entrance and ready for some stimulation.

I did my best. The kirtan at
the end somehow came of as less zoo-like considering the incredible
age-range from 3 to 12. My dear Lord, thanks for the challenge.

Florida
boasts to having over a thousand springs, rivers of cooling clear
waters, through the state. Ichetucknee Springs State Park was the
destination of a few of us who enjoy tubing, snorkeling or just plain
swimming on one of such springs. This particular spring with its
limestone bottom, reeds growing from its bed and the home of the
turtles, snakes and in some seasons manatees, flows at a comfortable
speed. One of the boys has spot wild boars on a previous visit.

It
was Aravind that I renounced my orange tube to for the joy of swimming
most of the distance. What a treat this was! It was rather a great
obstacle course at times dodging fallen trees or holding onto a log that
appeared to lost and now gained a purpose. It becomes a perfect anchor
for catching a few moments of breath.

My
day in its completion felt like a flowing stream with delivering a
class from Canto 10 of the Bhagavatam on the subject of the company that
shapes you. In the evening I was slotted to facilitate a “Nine
Devotions Workshop”. All went well, this workshop included. My analysis
on this one, though, is that the participation was on the high side.
Beyond the figure 30, it becomes a trite unmanageable.

Its
purpose is to bring the members of the group closer to each other,
hence creating a more cohesive community overall. There is a tendency
amongst us to become a bit too formalized when we step in a spiritual
domain such as the temple. The mood can often be one of an institutional
mode.

It
is always good to remember what are the natural traits of a
stripped-down spirit soul. We are eternal. We are cognitive. We are
joyful.

God
knows that I want to put in a little time on a pedometer every day.
Frankly I’m not using one but perhaps I should start. If walking long
corridors like I did today in Atlanta’s Airport (a stopover) then a
device would show some distance on foot. At this point I’m reluctant to
count such steps as adding to collective walking for the day. Generally I
like to count what I do outside because it is more the full experience.

Since
that is the case I can register no kilometres or miles for that matter.
I can only think, or dream, of having put on the distance. Being up in
the air twice today in order to to reach Gainesville Airport lends
itself to dreaming. You are above the the clouds.

Ananta
Sesa and Vaishnavi, my hosts in their home, gave only the best meal
starting with a salad of greens and sprouts. It would have been great to
have walked it off but in truth I’m not a fan for walking through
afternoon blazes, the heat of summer Florida.

Nighttime
was a preoccupation of in the home of my stay when godbrothers/sisters,
and perhaps two generations below came to chant, eat and talk. We
talked of our spiritual brother Brahmananda, who passed away yesterday
in India. In the 60’s he was the heart of Iskcon, the Hare Krishna
Movement. He was one of the first takers to the mission of our guru,
Srila Prabhupada, in New York where it all started fifty years ago. One
person in the room described him as a transcendental teddy bear. He was
large in his build and was soft in the heart. He will be missed.

Dundas
Square in Toronto’s answer to Times Square. At that very spot, the
juncture of Yonge and Dundas, a promo festival to the upcoming Chariot
Festival, was held today. I went from stall to stall schmoozing before
joining the beautiful kirtan that task place. there was also a mock
exotic temple erected for the public to experience. Face-painting,
henna, food (prasadam), clothes and other wares were on for sale. There
were a lot of curious browsers and eager participants.

One
artist there who had this fantastic work in progress, oil on canvas,
was a rendering of the face of Krishna collaged with the elements. He
rather liked the location for the event. A fairly newcomer to Canada and
who hails from Cuba, he was surprised to know about Dundas Square.
“Twenty years ago this did not exist,” I explained. “It was a block of
buildings for retail. i have a brother-in-law who owned a jewelry store
on this block. The city decided some time ago that a public space was
needed to break the monotonous feature of the highrises.”

That
was a smart decision although in my opinion there could have been some
green at the scene. A huge stage is a permanent fixture. There is
seating and water-fountains geyser up in the air from time to time. It
is a far way from the descriptions you read about regarding the gorgeous
city in Dwarka during Krishna’s time but it was an honest effort on the
part of the conscientious city council.

I
want to congratulate the team of Keshav, Rukmini and others who worked
hard to assemble this little Krishna Conscious market-place on behalf of
the Ratha Yatra. Job well done!

Whenever
I have an issue with my knee or ankle, not terribly serious though,
but with some pain, I've found it helpful to walk myself through the
problem. Today was that day for that to happen.

Beginning
from our ashram, Karuna, Dan, and I set on foot for the
bike/pedestrian trail along the Don River. Soaking in sun,
sheltering under shade and dodging hundreds of outdoor enthusiasts
that shared the path was the initial phase of our sojourn. That
then changed. At Taylor Creek Park the trail thins out and even
becomes practically impossible for a cyclist. You enter mean
forest with a narrow strip of walkway. The ground is soft but
uneven in spots. That's what helps an ailing knee or ankle.
The mechanics I don't quite understand. What I do know is that
certain muscles that are usually lazy from a straight and flat
sidewalk now get activated.

We
are basically following a trail by the Don. And it was lovely.
Here you are in the city but totally aloof - in the green. The
Don continued to meander. It was a new discovery - this place
and unfortunately our journey was to terminate, not because the river
ended. It continues for some distance, yet to be explored for a
future date. We actually had a lunch engagement much further up
the Don. It was time to come out of the river's ravine and
catch a ride to meet our appointment. Otherwise we would
anticipate a four hour journey through the up-and-down gorgeousness
of the wilderness. End
result of all the exploration was that my agitated knee felt
repaired. I like this kind of conquest which was backed-up by
the Supreme, the Maker of rivers and the Blesser of trails.

Dan
is willing enough to admit to struggling with drugs. He wants
to put the nasty things behind him. He has come to Krishna to
get help and support. He's been chanting, meditating on
his japa beads. Reading the Bhagavad-gita and
being in the company of devotees is making a difference.

Dan
has just arrived from Alberta and is taking to a monk-for-a-weekend
retreat at the ashram with us. The rain had
come down hard just before he arrived by bus. The air was clean
and not long after quite the ride from Ontario's southern tip,
Windsor, Dan was quite ready for a trek that Karuna and I had
planned.

So
through Rosedale neighbourhood we threesome went picking up the fresh
smells after a thorough shower from the gods in many ways the walk
through this region with its mature growth of well-placed trees was
the introduction to Dan's monk-for-a-weekend experience. It was
the perfect therapeutic venture for the three of us. After all,
who in this world is not sick with some addiction/attachment?

We
all are!

What
comes to mind is a verse of hope from the Bhagavad-gita 6.45:

"And
when the yogi engages himself with sincere endeavour in making
further progress, being washed of all contaminations, then
ultimately, achieving perfection after many, many births of practice,
he attains the supreme goal."

From
Winnipeg I boarded a plane where a brief encounter with Swami
Narayana monks involved saying, "Namaste!" and "Hare
Krishna." After a lay-over in Toronto and then boarding
Air Canada destined for Thunder Bay I sat next to Shawn Campbell.
We were next to each other on the flight to Thunder Bay.

What
a great conversation! Time was flying as was our plane.
So Shawn used to be employed with the pulp and paper industry.
We talked about that and I became enlightened as to what wood makes
the best pulp and what makes the best newsprint. The dominant
trees of the area, nestled in the Boreal forest was spruce, jack
pine, some poplar, cedar. "What about the white birch so
common around Thunder Bay? What's happening to them? They
seem to be deteriorating. On my walks I see them losing their
leaves and lustre.

Shawn
had the answer. "When the loggers come in for the paper
industry they take all the trees out around them and leave them...

I
butt in and said, "Alone?!"

"Yes."
He went on to explain that like most trees they are inter-dependent.
They need the other species to survive. Whether its gases they
emit or the breaking of the wind, the birches require that the other
species be around them.

"Hmmmmm!"
That's like people. We, being social animals, hanker for human
interaction, an interdependency," I suggested. Who wants
to be alone?

We
covered more territory in our chat. We touched on war.
Shawn felt that religion was the cause of major wars. I begged
to differ. Many wars were fought over land and commodities such
as gold, oil, salt, etc. although greed may have been part of the
mix.

Shawn
is now a Floridian and visits his northern home country. I hope
to meet him again.

It
was by Boulevard Lake that Lian, her 7 year son, Noah, Milan, Luke,
and host Dr Jani - circled the waters' perimeter. There we were
in the world of birches (healthy ones), poplar, pine, and spruce.
We were on Cloud Nine with the smells and colours. I felt I was
in the air once again.

Doug,
Daruka, and I took cautious steps on unofficial trails along the
Assiniboine River within the city limits of Winnipeg. The river
had taken its natural course of the spring season. Water levels
are fairly high but not too high for us to traverse. I would
imagine there are some of the oldest trees in the province where we
roamed - chunky and tall, often bent a bit.

Here
we were with water (the river); with silt, hard and soft (earth)
under our feet; with our giants, the trees representing fire; with
the river breeze blowing over (air) and with a space for comfort
(ether).

Nice
setup, Nature!

By
evening a sanga took place at 108 Chestnut Street.
Vrinda, our facilitator, and Malini were early. Others came
like Visvambhara and wife Daniel. Farida too. She gave me
a card quoting St Francis of Assisi - a well-known piece worth
sharing:

Craig
Ginn brought his students from Mount Royal College. A great
walk on Calgary's Greenway, then brunch at Yogendra's over
fiddle-heads on buns - these two engagements got me pumped up for
meeting students who wanted to know everything from the soul's
transmigration to destiny at death.

If
it wasn't for the walk through nature in the morning my philosophical
presentation to these students would appear theoretical, even
shallow. Because I took that stroll and with two good souls,
Gaurachandra and Vani, I witnessed life in the form of magpies in
flight, ravens perched and other fowl in anticipation of conquest, of
death of food, of sex, I could speak with a greater conviction,
fullness, and support behind me.

I
detected some shyness in the group of students and some reluctance to
sing, dance, and even ask questions in the beginning. It took
time for the students to get comfortable but they got there and to
the point where they really appreciated the interactiveness.
They were great! They were served veggie burgers.
Irresistible!

Now,
my host in Calgary, had his birthday today. Radha Madhava
turned forty-seven, looks like thirty-one. I think its all that
vegetarianism in the form of prasadam that keeps him
young.

Every
time I visit Calgary Radha Madhava calls everyone to his home for
a sanga. He manages to pack his place. The
formula to success on his sanga programs is feed everyone
at 6:30 pm. Satisfy the palate. Then roll on the
kirtan and then the discussion. Program finished
by 9:30 pm at the latest.

Most
people enter a period of conflict in their life when governed by dark
influence, even dark planets. The Vedas of India identify two
such planets - Rahu and Ketu. It is a time when self-reflection
is of optimum importance and comes in handy when entering a storm in
consciousness. We get emotional and defensive.

It
reminds me of Arjuna going through his emotional intensity. And
then Krishna offers him a sense of balance.

I've
found that during internal storms I would be compelled to
self-reflect. In a recent article in "The Globe and Mail"
newspaper article by Harvey Schachter, a quoted Cinnie Noble says,
"reflection moves our brains from the emotional part, the
amygdala, to the thinking part, the prefrontal cortex."

This
technique of shifting from emotion to logic and reasoning is the
technique used by Sri Krishna in steering Arjuna to a more grounded
position. Arjuna had been puzzled upon seeing to the difficult
task of fighting kinsmen and friends. Arjuna found himself
confused, grieving, trembling, crying - being emotional.

Krishna
put some loving pressure on Arjuna and addressed him saying that his
reaction was one of "petty weakness of heart."
Arjuna's head and heart were at war.

Somehow
- because the relationship between Krishna and Arjuna was valued
between the two persons - Krishna's pressure and Arjuna's letting up
was able to transpire, and Arjuna was able to come to some resolve.
He weathered the storm and became peaceful within. He listened
then to Krishna's logic and was able to transcend.

“Small
world,” is what we concluded.Alfred
Brush Ford, the great grandson of motor vehicle inventor, Henry Ford,
came to town on a fundraiser for a huge temple construction in
Mayapura, India. I had crossed paths with him a few times in
spiritual circles, mostly in India. Also known as Ambarisa (his
Sanskrit name), he graced us with his presence, and the divine
company of his wife, Svaha.

This
time around upon meeting him I had to ask him a question which would
confirm some karmic connection between him and I in this life.

“So,
you were raised in Detroit?”
“Yes,”
he said.
“You’re
a Motown boy?”
“You
could say that.”
“Did
you ever come up to Canada when you were young, particularly in
Ontario?”
“Yes,
I used to go to see Shakespeare plays in Stratford, Ontario.”
“Okay,
but did your family have property about an hour’s drive from
Detroit in Ontario?”
“Yes,
the family had a lodge in the marshy areas.” “Near Tilbury?”
“I
believe that was it, but it was a lodge where guys used to go and
hunt ducks. My dad tried to show me how to use a gun, and I
accidentally almost blew his head off.” (Laughter)

“Were
there pictures of scantily clad ladies on the walls of the lodge?
And did the place always have a cigarette smell?”
“Yes.”
“That’s
it!” I said, “My dad did the maintenance there. He used to
put out the duck decoys, spread corn out in the marsh in hip boots in
order to attract ducks, and he used to clean the lodge. On my
last walk I trekked through that area, and my sister, Roseanne, who
accompanied me for a bit, mentioned that the Ford family owned the
lodge.”

Ambarisa
found it thoroughly interesting that I used to hang out there as he
did, but we never met then. He told me of the time when he was
a hippy, and with a friend got on board a motor boat and then got
caught in an electric storm when they were tripping, and how a duck
in flight lead the motor boat to the lodge after being lost in the
marsh and canals.

“Isn’t
that something, Ambarisa? My brother and I had gone fishing
there, and we used to help our dad. We caught fish but we
couldn’t stand eating them. What a small world it is.”

The
community was excited. New deities were installed.
The murtis, or deities of Chaitanya and Nityananda
graced the shrine. For the instalment of the deities,
there was the use of ghee, milk, flowers, grain, yogurt, juices, and
other substances. This is called snan, a bathing
process. It is a procedure that is common in
the bhakti tradition, and it was enjoyed by all.

Part
of the procedure required my standing. I've come to some
realization that I'm not a stander. I like to sit (not always
in the lotus position, but by chair). And, of course, walking
is just fine. Standing is not my forte. I took today's
ordeal of standing while pouring substances as a sacrifice,
which is not bad for a monk to execute. The ceremony was
beautiful, it extended for what seemed like hours.

The
Evening

All
of White Mud Drive was an exit the group took via vehicle. We
parked, then entered along a trail by Fort Edmonton along that
vibrant river way, the North Saskatchewan.

I
would say most emphatically, that it is highly necessary for
every human being to make nature connections every day of your life.
Whether you are a corporate person locked in a concrete jungle, or a
man of the cloth, meaning a priest orpujari, do connect with
nature because it is the spirit of God that you contact. It
offers a balance. Make the day complete with some work, some
ritual, and some recreation. It is what I consider
holistic, or, whole-istic, living. It is there for all of us to
take advantage of. Drop the phobia for rain, cold, heat, and
wind. Bear it and embrace it.

William
Hawrelak Park was our chosen walking spot which included trails
trekking along the North Saskatchewan River. Bala Krishna, our
temple coordinator said of the walk, "The wild rose, Alberta's
official provincial flower, is such pretty plant, a perennial
that survives hard winters. It teaches us how to persevere
obstacles.

Raja
Gopal said this, "I was in awe to see the expanse of the river
from the viewpoint of the middle of the walking bridge. Nature
was giving us a wide welcome."

Madhavi,
Raja's wife, who runs our Sunday School, really liked when we sat on
the grass and when we took some moment to chant japa together.
She expressed to me that after the sit that I was a botany
professor as much as I was a chanter because I had educated them
in some of the local plants, and also suggested to her that we
make a lilac tea from the bush in bloom near by.

Raju
expressed that the breeze was perfect, "I'm always in an office
and it was such a relief being out in the elements."

Sandiya
said, "I got a charge out of harvesting dandelion flowers
for tomorrow's pakoras. You see, today is an optional full day
fast, including water. I can't wait to try them out as a snack,
but I'll have to wait til tomorrow."

Sudeep
came from the office and joined us for the trek, but couldn't get
away from talking on his cell phone. But, like myself, I'm sure
he just couldn't ignore the powerful scent of wildflowers.

It's
good to hear from others for a change. Congratulations to Ria
who took diksa (initiation). Her new name is
Saranagati. And Rajesh happily accepted the name Raja Gopal.

Praveen and I were rather proud of
ourselves after we made the commitment to a one hour of walking
during our japa meditation period. Our arrival at the
ashram was right on the button, smack on the second of a 60
minute trek. It couldn’t have been more accurate, more
exacting to the second. Personally, I feel great when things
are done timely like this. Praveen was beaming as was I.

I felt a bit less elated, though, in
the afternoon, when our slotted time, 2 PM, for a dash to our
communal van was delayed. The clock ticked from 2 to 2:10, to
2:20, and finally, 2:30, and we were still not loaded up with all
monks possible, and drums. It was mainly Nick, whom I often
address as ‘Slick Nick’, who was the culprit and the cause of
challenging time. The rest of us, four residential monks, were
growing impatient. I decided to avoid storming him (impatience
externally in check), and to leave the van for the ashram to
explore and ask, “Why the hold up, Nick?” No, I wasn’t
going to use my kick, or a stick on Nick. My affection for Nick
is too strong. Nevertheless, I was curious as hell to know what
happened to the last of the chanters as we anticipated our journey
for Kensington Market, an enclave of shops and people of an open
kind.

Alas, there was Nick, inside the
boutique, making a $400 sale of BBT books. Someone had taken
interest in the complete volume set of our guru’s books.
The purchase would surely nurture the soul for the one reading page
after page of revelations by Srila Prabhupada to do with the Absolute
Truth.

Those of us waiting were now
relieved. The extra wait bore marvelous fruit. With our
spirits up and Nick now ready to go, we ventured off to Kensington
and then Chinatown. We started drumming and chanting, all was
auspicious. We even stumbled upon various acquaintances, and
also made new friends along the way.

TRANSLATE

ABOUT ME

I am a disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and I became a monk of the Hare Krishna order in 1973. My teacher gave me the spiritual name, Bhaktimarga Swami, which means "the path of devotion". Of course, this fits right in with my avid promotion of walking adventures as a way to connect with the Divine and lead a more care-free / car-free lifestyle. It is a great joy to share these adventures in both Canada and abroad with you via my daily blog.
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ARTICLE: BHAKTIMARGA SWAMI: A LIFE DRAMATIC

CLICK ON PHOTO TO READ FULL ARTICLE FEATURED ON ISKCON NEWS: To ISKCON devotees everywhere, the name Bhaktimarga Swami conjures up images of powerful, out-of-the-box stage productions; and of energetic kirtans, full of stomping dance moves and jubilant smiles...